There are no stupid questions
by gad-eshu'a
Summary: Set after Star Trek Beyond, Nyota tells Spock she's got baby fever. Heavy M because obviously they're trying to have kids
1. Chapter 1

" Spock?"

The Vulcan in question looks up from the PADD he's reading and gives her his quiet attention. Nyota averts her gaze down to that of her own tablet and turns it off with a swipe of her finger. If he notices the nervous fidget for what it is, Spock doesn't reveal it. He continues studying her face as she begins to chew at her lip. " I have a personal question to ask you."

" You only need but ask me."

Nyota shrugs her shoulders, sending her hair slinking back behind her. " Well, it's kind of a stupid question."

Spock places his PADD down onto his nightstand and sits up from his reclining position on their bed. He tilts his head in interest as to where this might be headed.

Nyota has never once referred to any of her queries as 'stupid'. When it came to any information of a personal nature his betrothed only offered when directly asked and questioned if she felt the matter to be pertinent to some other issue. That she should want to ask him something intimate that she felt awkward asking had piqued his curiosity. " I will not judge you for the question though I may ask about its origin."

Nyota nods and remains quiet for a moment. Just when he thinks she thought better of asking, he hears her. " When we are...intimate, you get a little mouthy."

Spock clears his throat with a growing blush but maintains his composure otherwise. " Define 'mouthy'."

Nyota shifts along the bed and puts her PADD onto the bed. A exchange of glances tells her that Spock worries over its position and she moves it to her nightstand without compliant. " I mean, you bite me. Not really to hurt but I don't know, why do you do it?"

Spock takes a quick inhale and stares out at some unknown point in space. " Instinctually, I feel a need to...be 'mouthy' with you, as my bondmate when we are engaged in such activities."

" Yes but why? Why is that an instinct?"

Spock clears his throat again and rolls his shoulder blades down across his back, sitting up more comfortably. This was leading down a long and arduous road of discovery. " Between what we Vulcans know from our surviving annuals and the speculation of biologist and historians alike, males may have made such advances for a number of reasons."

" Such as?"

She is leaving _nothing_ to speculation. Spock blinks and thoughtfully tilts his head up towards the ceiling. " Historians believe that bites mark seen along the shoulder of mature Vulcans symboled them as mated and called for. Biologists theorized that such marks were made in our earlier evolution stages to poison and paralyze prey. Later, as we left our pre enlightened ways of eating animal protein, we lost our ability to secrete venom."

Nyota nods but Spock continues, knowing that she would probably appreciate all the information he could dispense. " It is also taught that 'being mouthy' could help in stimulating ovulation in females."

Nyota regards him then, with bright, excited eyes and he feels himself grow wary. " You have more questions."

" Yes, more stupid questions."

Spock shakes his head and leans it back onto the headboard. " Willful ignorance is 'stupid', not inquiries for truth."

Nyota smiles and spreads her hands out over the dark duvet that covers them. She studies them as she launches into her next question. " So, when you are 'mouthy' and 'hands on' -"

" Explain on 'hands on'."

It seems that it is her turn to blush as she turns her profile to him and pulls at a stray thread. " Well, like, umm, when your hands are on my hips, kinda holding me still and in place and when you-"

" I see what behavior you are referring to." he says hurriedly to cut off the rest of her explanation. " To your earlier question, would you care to finish?"

" Yeah, I mean, I don't know, this is getting awkward."

Spock's eyes dart back and forth between her hands, her face and their bed as he tries to assess her. " If I am, at all, making you hesitate over asking something you wish to know, I am sorry. I am...not always proud of my behavior. With you I sometimes find my logic failing, through no fault of your own. I hesitate over your questions because I fear somewhere in them, you will draw the conclusion that you are upset with how I am intimately. That I am lacking or perhaps offensive to you."

" No! No, no, no, Spock, no." she says waving her hands in the air, in an effort to ward off his anxiety. " It's nothing like that at all. It's more to do with your time, I wanted to know more about it."

Now he feels truly perplexed. Spock tilts his head with a mild expression of confusion to his face. " My time?"

" You said, or rather wrote down that Vulcans have a...mating time. Is that the only time we could get pregnant?"

Silence fills the room after her words. Nyota nervously stares down at the comforter but can't stand the pause much more. Gathering her courage, she glances up to find Spock shocked pale and speechless.

His flush face holds his mouth slightly agape and at this moment Nyota thinks it's the most human the half Vulcan has ever looked.

He swallows and slowly works to clear his face. He still looks pensive when he asks Nyota a quick question of his own. " Are you pregnant?"

She shakes her head slowly and he feels himself settle with mixed emotions. Relief, disappointment and curiosity wash over him in waves as he watches her bashfully turn to fully face him. " No, I'm not pregnant but I think I want to be."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: someone asked on a review if I had a tumblr and I do : isanybodygettingthis . Don't worry about the insta, it's not at all interesting or trek related. BTW, I love reading your reviews and if you have any questions you want me to answer back please PM instead of reviewing because it's just easier to reply that way. Okay I'll post everything but the last chapter because I'm still working on that.

Spock exits off the bridge and onto the turbolift at the end of his shift. He nods in acknowledgement to those who join him in the lift's cab but otherwise keeps his gaze on the PADD in the hand before him.

He is on his way to join Nyota and a few other officers for second meal. His current craving, however, happens to be for the ob/gyn biological report he downloaded just before the start of his shift. Published by the New Vulcan Science Academy's medical department, Spock has seen a wealth of research in Vulcan/human has been conducted since the time his parents conceived him.

All those aboard soon depart for their destinations, leaving him alone and the turbolift awaiting orders. " Officers' mess hall."

The lift chimes and speeds down towards the requested deck, leaving Spock to focus on his research. He skims the screen until he finds where he left off.

 _...for the best results it is best for the male to frequently copulate with the human female two to three days before and through her ovulation. Humans ovulate four times as often as that of Vulcan females but the difference our biology and genetic sequencing leads the human ovum to be less receptive to Vulcan insemination._

 _This difficulty aside, mating between the two species is wholly compatible and breeding is not only viable but a successive occurrence after Va'Pak. A number of healthy hybrid offspring have been produced from Vulcan male and human female pairings…_

The tubrolift hisses open again and Spock lowers the tablet to exit and navigate through the hall towards the galley.

From the information he has gathered so far, it seems that Nyota's wish to conceive their child naturally could be accommodated. He had been concerned over the ability to do so and carry a child to term without medical assistance when she mentioned it the night before.

As the discussed the matter his beloved almost seemed singularly fixated on the point, despite her meekness in relaying her wishes. He recalls the soft warmth of her face as she rested her head on his shoulder as they lounged upon his bed. She tangled her fingers with his, in an innocent gesture of affection and from it he sensed her yearning. " Since I might you, Spock, I couldn't get you off of my mind. And since we've dated I've pictured you as the one I'd travel the stars and explore with."

He pulled her closer and planted a kiss to the crown of her head. She wasn't finished with her thought but he could not help himself when she touched him as she did. " I would challenge that I thought of you far more often than you did me."

Spock felt her cheek rise up along his skin as her mouth began to smile. It faded soon after to something more subtle, as she picked up her train of thought. " Being married after all this time together just feels natural...even though I worried that we wouldn't be ready."

He nodded in understand and slid his hand up her arm. " But you find our union to be agreeable, do you not?"

A pang of nervous apprehension raced across him then as he honestly, for the first time, considered that Nyota might not be happy in their marriage. His fear slipped over her as he paused his hand over her shoulder. She nuzzled closer and sighed deeply. " I find it most agreeable, Spock. So agreeable, in fact, that I think things can't get any better than they are. Which brings me to my point."

Spock released a breath that he hadn't consciously sought to hold and rubbed his chin at along her hair as she spoke. " We've talked about traveling to visit New Vulcan to visit your father. We also considered finding a healer to formally bond there but there's one thing we haven't discussed yet that is a growing dream of mine."

She turned in his arms and rose up above him. He followed her progress onto his lap and bound their fingers as she sat on top of him. She gently lowered her forehead to his and brushed the round tip of her nose past his to his cheek. Closing her eyes, she floored Spock's mind with the strength of her conviction. " I wanna make a baby with _you_ , Spock. I want to feel them grow inside me, see pieces of ourselves when we look at their faces."

She closed her quickly for a chaste kiss and opened her eyes to look back at him. " I want to have a family with you, as my husband, bondmate and the father of my children."

Her soliloquy brought Spock's methodical mind to a screeching halt. He never known until that moment how much he wished to hear someone, no, hear _her_ , say that until she had. His hands left their station at his side and held her face as he took her lips against his own.

Passions high and time permitting, Spock took it upon himself to rectify the manner of her being without child. After all, her current location at the time had been convenient as it had been suggestive. Practice makes perfect, he teased quietly, as she rose and fell above him.

This morning following their 'discussion', however, Spock sets out to see what could be done for a bonded pair in their situation.

A lot has changed since his birth. His mother and father, out of concern for his longevity and health issue, had chosen to screen all of their genetic material, artificially inseminate the choice specimen of ovum and implant after it or rather, he had been found to be viable and thriving.

To read that over four hundred and forty seven live births of hybrid offspring had been recorded just on New Vulcan alone gave Spock the resolve to fulfil her wishes. He had hoped to visit New Vulcan and declare kal-i'farr between them with his father and her family to witness and perhaps this could be arranged sooner rather than later.

He enters the mess hall pondering this when he sees a team of operation reds dismantling or reassembling the replicators. A number of officers sit at tables with PADDs or games to pass the time until the hall's food synthesizers are back online. A quick scan of the tables reveals that Nyota has not yet arrived.

Spock picks the closest free table and retrieves his PADD. He skips a few journal entries and resumes reading.

 _...while a small percentage of males can detect a human in heat by scent, most Vulcans do not consciously identify the smell as the female's fertile ripeness. If you are without instrumentation or a calendar to discern your mate's cycle, observing your female's presentation may aid in determining her current stage of fertility._

 _The cervical mucus also known as vaginal discharge will change from being adherent and viscous to wet and slippery to the touch. The vaginal channel will also be notable warmer in temperature, which lends itself to the layman's term of going into heat. It is at this time when one or more symptoms are present that a male should make overtures towards coitus._

 _The best practice for ensuring insemination is to have the male ejaculate at least once before mating occurs to ensure a fresh production of healthy sperm is being deposited within the female...while ovulation is key to impregnation, the activity known as foreplay is firmly coupled with it. It not only impresses a sense of love and security with one's bondmate but prepares her body for intercourse._

 _The average size of the human vagina is anywhere between 2.5" to 4.75" in length while at rest. After the initiation of sexual advances and preparations, the length increases and the size will triple if not quadruple in depth allowance. Mucus production is stimulated in concert with the lifting of the cervix, all of which eases the passage and repeated thrusts of the male's lok-_

" Spock?"

Spock's eyes blink wide with guilt and flicker up over the edge of his tablet to find Nyota's face peering at him from the other side of the table. While amusement is clearly expressed across her features, Nyota appears to be none the wiser to his 'research'.

" A good read, I take it?" she teases taking a seat. Spock swallows and nods solemnly. " Fascinating, some may say."

She broadens her smile and turns to face the construction going on behind her. She clicks her tongue and hums warily. " We're not going to get any lunch out of those machines anytime soon."

Spock's gaze starts to wander from her hair to her lips and down towards her bust. The urge to test the medical journals against a control assail him.

Spock turns off his PADD and tucks the device beneath his arm. " Perhaps we could dine elsewhere, say our quarters?"

Nyota perk up with interest as she rests her chin on top of her hands. " Oh? You cooking?"

Spock lifts a single brow and gives her a lopsided smile. " Consider me at your disposal."


	3. Chapter 3

He plays with her fingers as he holds her from behind, tapping the tips of them together for a mild, miniature expressions of ozh'esta. She watches their fingers dance with a small smile on her face and shifts her back against his chest. " Do you want a boy or a girl."

Spock blinks down at the lazy grin on her face and tilts a brow up towards his bang. " I do not believe the gender of our baby is determined in such a fashion."

Nyota playfully smacks her hand at his fingers and giggles. " Stop! You know what I mean."

" A girl." he answers evenly. " If opinions were able to sway biology then I would opt for a female."

Nyota gives him a surprised coo and prods him for details with a poke of her finger. " That was quick answer. Been giving it some thought? Envisioning what life will be like with daddy's girl?"

" A boisterous venture, I would assume. Other than Michael and my mother, I did not have any close female relatives in my childhood." he answers honestly, resuming their finger play. " It did not help that I was significantly younger than they were."

" Hmm." Nyota says nodding. She traps his ring finger between her forefinger and thumb and wiggles it absently. " I don't know what I want. Sometimes I picture a girl...having had sisters and all but then I think about my younger boy cousins and how cute they were. I don't know."

Spock moves himself down the mattress until he can rest his head comfortably onto her chest. " Whatever the case, we will be pleased with either outcome."

A hand moves over her side, right where her heart would be if she were Vulcan before sliding up over its proper position, under her left breast. When he speaks next, Nyota feels it in her chest as much as she hears it. " I have not said so before but I am...very gratified by your consideration...towards family planning."

He takes her hand and put it to his face with a quiet sigh. " I find myself looking forward to the experience as a whole."

His lashes brush down the pads of her fingers while his lips contort themselves to kiss her palm. " As much as I can be, I wish to be an active participant."

Nyota tries to move her head down to look at him but realizes it's a wasted effort. She takes her other hand to smooth his ruffled hair back down along his scalp and smiles. " I want that too."

Spock presses up into her touch and huffs in contentment. " I want our child."


	4. Chapter 4

He had always been such an assuming partner. It started with her asking him out and his eager but bashful acceptance. He was happy to have her lead, there were no assumptions on his part to make if he did so. Demure as he was with making joint decisions, Nyota has never found his passion lacking when it came to his affection for her.

There were darks time after Va'Pak and the loss of his mother but slowly Spock regained himself. Facing Khan and Krall had cemented his commitment. They had the privilege of being the first couple married aboard the newly, constructed Enterprise and with it rights therein. It only seemed natural, after a year of lawfully wedded under the eyes of the Federation, that they try.

" I want you in me. _Now_..."

Her voice comes out in a husky whisper with the words brushing against his ear, in a warm, honeyed puff. Spock sucks the air quietly between his parted lips, with a feral look on his face.

He turns and watches her leave, paying particular attention to motion of her hips. What would have been suggestive is outright indecent in her uniform as Nyota switches with every booted step.

Spock stands up straight from his station and stalks after her, knowing what she wants and now eager to give it to her. Nyota looks over her shoulder and bites at her bottom lip. She is baiting him, flaunting herself in the face of his blank expression and mild composure.

If she only knew, if any of those present knew, how much she has aroused him with six, simple words. The words themselves were tempting enough but that she murmured them in Vulcan made him smolder.

The soft, sultry cadence of it rekindled the memory of this morning. She had coax him awake with her hands and his native tongue. Before he was fully conscious as to what was happening she had brought him to his wit's end.

Lips sealed, hands clasped, gazes locked, they writhed against each other in a slow, serpentine burn. It seems making love so tenderly has only served to whet Nyota's appetite. No way would a satisfied woman give him the look she just shot him. Nor would she saunter away from her post under prying eyes with her body swaying and bouncing as it was under her shift.

She is baiting him and Spock is willing to bite.

She boards the turbolift and turn with a single eyebrow lifted slyly over her cheshire smile. _Coming?_ it seems to say as she waits in sight of the doorway. He lifts one of his own in a clear signal that indeed he is. He crosses between the science station and the navigation chart, ready to turn and make the fourteen steps it takes to get from there to the lift when a voice calls his name. " Spock?"

Spock cocks his head to the side to see the Captain swiveling in his chair with a PADD in hand. " So Spock, did you get those Chemistry composition reports of the last three planets out? I know Lieutenant Commander Marcus was looking forward to them. She wanted to add them to her next Planetary terraforming class."

Spock glances over towards Nyota and back to the Captain. " I have submitted my recordings to Starfleet. I can send the reports along with the raw data to the Lieutenant Commander, if you so wish."

Kirk brightens at the suggestion and nods his head vigorously. " That would be great! Also there was-"

Spock eyes wander over the the lift where the door is beginning to close. Nyota is biting her lip again and has her fingers playing with the edge of her skirt. She starts to pull it up towards Surak knows where when he catches sight of the bright, white cotton of her underwear.

" -Requesting permission to leave the bridge." he interrupts the Captain with eyes still fastened onto his Lieutenant Commander.

Kirk looks startled at his abrupt request and nods in confusion. " Uh sure, permission gra-"

Spock is already racing towards the lift. It's nearly shut. If it does close he'll have wait for the cab and then go looking for her. She said now and he intends to give her everything now.

Nyota sighs in disappointment at the closing door when a familiar set of fingers curl over its edge and push it back open with startling force. She draws at the air and leans back against the wall. His dark eyes are on her with a hunger that mirrors her own. Without casting his eyes away, he uses the turbolift's manual level to call the floor.

 _Ten forward_ the computer chirps happily before whisking them down pass the decks below. Spock hasn't said a word but then again he doesn't have too.

She knew he would get the message. To taunt him in Vulcan the way that she had only fueled to still-smoldering fire between them. She wants him, hell, she always had. From the first electric touch to their first heartfelt kiss, the passage of years has been building towards this moment.

She has always entertained the thought but now she can't shake it. It comes to her in her quiet times when they lie in bed. What would it be like to have a baby? How would the pregnancy be? How would Spock react? Would he be reserved or annoyingly sappy during her gestation? Who would their baby be?

The turbolift stops and opens, temporary halting the primal spell between them. He moves to the side to let her exit before him. It's a polite gesture but Nyota knows there's an ulterior motive behind it.

He wants to watch her as she walks and let her feel his eyes on him. He's felt how much she likes it, how precious and wanton it makes her feel to have him unable to look away from her. They don't have much time, they're expected back at the bridge. Despite this fact they leisurely make their way to the ten forward.

Nyota stops before the door and waits for Spock to override the lock. Most of deck ten is still under construction, with the forward now with a new platt. The double doors beep and hiss open, revealing an eerily dark room. Nyota had seen the orders come down after Kirk's request got approved for the small observation deck. Given the size of the crew and the honors they've received the fleet's engineering department so little reason not to convert the space into a recreational bar and lounge.

As it is, there are cargo crates littered throughout the room as they make their way to half lit corner. Right where the observation window meets a series of aluminums and other metals, Nyota turns to face him and halts his progress.

He watch raptly as Nyota puts her fingers back to the hem of her skirt and slips them underneath it. That same scrap of white clothes catches on her fingers and slides silently down her legs. She steps out of it gracefully and suspends the fabric from a single finger.

Spock looks from her face to the proffered underwear before he retrieves it. He looks back at her and brings the material to his face. Slowly he crushes it between his fingers and mashes it against his nose. Her eyes flutter as he breathes in the scent of her, humming hungrily as he draws in her perfume.

Spock allows himself one last, lingering sniff and neatly folds them away in his pocket. He backs her into the corner until she butts up against it. His arm reaches out to catch her around the waist and holds her close. Their mutual excitement has Nyota panting up at his face as he leans his down towards hers.

Heat, lust and that heavy brooding mood of his fill her as he brings their lips together and tastes her mouth. She tilts her head into the palm that comes to cup her face and sends her hands underneath his tunic.

Spock hums in approval and moves her up along his body, kissing her more deeply as he uses one hand to deftly unlatch his pants. The whine of the zipper races down her spine and has her clawing at his sides. She breaks the kiss and rolls against him. " Please…" she pants, wiggling to get closer.

Spock takes a ragged inhale through his mouth with that same wild look in his eyes. He answers her with tugging his slacks down around his thighs and guiding her to him by her rear.

He holds himself just outside her opening, visibly trembling with tension as he gives her the lead. Shuffling between him and the wall, Nyota braces her arms on his shoulders to lift her leg higher around his waist. Spock swallows loudly and groans as her body slowly begins its wet descent down around his shaft.

The hand he has at her bottom helps to push her down. His fingers dig lightly into the meat of it, infusing her with the eagerness he felt at her desire to have him. Nyota tilts her head back and moans his name.

Spock calls back to her, deep within Nyota's mind, observing her there as he picks up a rhythm. Soon she feels his head nuzzle alongside her neck and the grazing sting of his canines as he mouths at her shoulder.

This fuck is elegant as it is efficient. Little energy is needed on his part to lift and push her down and Nyota needs only the support of the wall behind her to keep herself upright as he feeds her his cock. In this moment they're free to watch the other's face as they grind their hips together and further rile the other into more wickness.

Nyota takes a shuddering breath with her lids threatening to flutter close from a particularly deep thrust on his part and whispers. " Are you going to give me what I want?"

Spock's upper lip curls up over his teeth with a huff as he wedges himself as deep as her body would allow him. She throws her head back with a pitiful moan as he rushes to press his face against her neck. " Is this not what you asked for, k'diwa? For me inside you now. Like this."

His hissed words of Vulcan are followed by another deep, demanding thrust that leaves her thighs feeling limp around him. " Yes. Like this."

He gives her another and growls into her ear as she claws at his shoulders. " Then why ask for what you want?"

Nyota digs a booted heel into the small of his back and yanks at the hair on the crown of his head. " I ask because...I want you inside me even after you pull out. I want you to fuck me like this-" she huffs, whipping her hips up and down in a feverid motion. Leading ear by the hair, Nyota pulls one of his pointed tips towards her lips. " And to fill me with your come. I want to feel it sear my pussy. I want it to run down my legs when I go back to the bridge and remember how you fucked me."

Spock hisses a curse in his native tongue and takes a hold of her legs. All semblance of ease and control is lost then as he fucks her hard against the wall. Nyota wails and bites her nails into his shoulders. " _Ha! Ha! Spo'ta!_ ( Yes! Yes! Like that!) Fuck yes!"

What was once elegant is now gauche. He pins her wrists against the wall above her head, his mouth beneath her jaw as he pumps his lok between her legs in an rampant frenzy. The motion of his hips are raw, unconstrained by thoughtful reservation to not appear feral.

But she know she's made him wild. She's driven him to it after all, wanted to feel the pure power of Spock's prowess as he sought to impregnate her. Nyota wasn't looking for cute, cuddly sex, she demanded that Spock fuck into a filthy, fantastical peak.

" Oh God! Fuck...Spock!" she wailed. Her back rose off the wall in a twisting arch against his chest as one climax ebbed into another, tightening the silken walls of her channel to a painful knot around him.

Spock growls into her shoulder as she whimpers at the onslaught. Some time during her orgasm Spock had brought his arms behind her knees, bending them towards her shoulders. In this position Nyota's whole body is pinned between him and the wall. So can no more stop the unwavering procession of breath-wrenching peaks than she can halt the relentless crashing of Spock's pelvic bone against her clit.

His large hands slam down against the wall on either side of her head as he works himself towards his own climax. His dark eyes fasten a look so intense that Nyota finds herself unable to look away by the unbearable hotness of it.

" Spo'ta? ( Like this?)" he pants at her through parted lips and harsh breaths. Nyota nods with a pitiful expression on her face but it's a contradiction to what she really feels. Or rather how he makes her feel. So...good, so utterly hedonistic that she wants to cry out how good and thick and big he is, how full she feels, how little more she can take, how she's-

Spock slants his mouth over hers just as he feels her clench for a third time, clawing his seed free from him and into her trembling form. Nyota's scream is a shrill, muffled hum of a thing as its swallowed down his throat. The tight grip she has on his wrists drag out his release, leaving his body jerking against her long after he finished spending inside of her.

They're unable to untangle with his knot as swollen as it is. Instead Nyota submits herself to another Vulcan indulgence as Spock begins to groom her. He nudges her face to the side, methodically kissing and licking her neck and shoulders while he remains stuck fast within her.

She hums as he comes closer to her lips, stroking the thin skin around his wrists with delicate brushes of her fingers. Spock drags his mouth further up, temporarily pausing to dot a soft kiss across a particularly psi-sensitive part of her skin until he reaches her mouth again.

" Was that to your satisfaction?"

A soundless chuckle shakes her chest and she sighs against his cheek. " MmmHmm."

Spock badgers her for another kiss before speaking again. " Did I injury you."

" Far from. I feel fabulous." she rolls her hips against the fat bulge of his knot to punctuate the point. An airy huff expels from his nose as she does, his pupils dilating into sharp, piercing dots of black will her not to tempt him. " I can probably go another six hours until I need you again."

Spock's brow lifts at this and a very low, very Vulcan sound creeps up from his throat. " Is this so?"

Nyota swallows loudly at the alien sensation of Vulcan passion sinking in through where his girthy cock still lies wedged inside her. She bites her bottom lip with a contrite smile. " Maybe change that to four hours."

Spock blinks at her in what she knows to be a Vulcan smile. " Make it two."


	5. Chapter 5

Nyota claws at the sheets and whines into them. Behind her, Spock ruts like a man possessed, driving himself into her at a relentless pace. The grip of his hands on her hips is tempered but it's the only part of him that feels controlled. They hold her steady as well as guide her back until the two of them collide together with a loud smack of their thighs.

It's their third time mating, just today, and her Vulcan is no less committed in his tasks than he was on day one. Her comfort was paramount, her pleasure, non-negotiable. She would have both as he claimed her.

Spock has certainly has seen to the fulfillment of those sensations. Though, after three straight days of his lok pounding into her until they collapsed across the bed, sex was beginning to wear on her. On the bed, over the couch, on top of the dresser, in the shower against the wall; the list of places embarrassingly went on and on. Both of them had given themselves to each other with a singular goal in mind, to see her pregnant. But when had sex turned into work?

Spock pushes a hand between her shoulder blades, changing the angle of where he sinks into her. The first stroke after the repositioning has her whimpering into the sheets and edging back for more.

He chuffs down at her as she makes an efforts to spread her legs wider for him, bracing herself on the bed to receive what he would give her. She looks at him from over her shoulder, heavy lidded and lips parted with a pout. He groans at the sight, shuddering in his movements as he draws closer towards his release.

" Nyota…"

She shivers in lusty pride at the tenor in which he growls her name. He needs no other stimulation than to look at her, bold, beautiful and free as she takes him. The hand at her back slides up and tenderly holds the messy tangle of hair at her nape and thrusts deeper. She jerks with surprised huff and squirms as her husband works her into a frantic jumble of nerves.

A few more strokes in and Spock has her voice cracking with a shrill wail as she comes." Oh , Oh- Spock!"

The coiling pressure in her belly releases without warning, leaving her clawing at the sheets for sense of stability. The rest of her is rendered senseless, dazed and shuddering against him as he prolongs the sensation between her legs. A muffled whimper hums out from her mouth as she rides the crest of it. " Spock…" she chokes outs against the mattress. " Spock."

Vaguely Nyota feels his grip tighten at her hips as he increases his pace. She doesn't have to look back to know he's wearing that proud, snarling expression on his face. From the way he takes her to the swelling emotions from his palms on her rear, Spock is in love with this moment.

He loves to please her, make her fall apart and gasp his name. To return to her, any iota of what she gives him, drives his devotion. The recent uptick in their amorous affairs has reduced him to the smug, growling male above her. She feels his pride in pleasing her but something else that gives her pause. Relief? Strange that he should feel that. Why relief?

She can scarcely ponder it more before Spock is jerking against her with a deep-throated groan. Nyota gasps as he pulls their hips together in a jarring lurch just before she feels the first hint of his climax wash over her.

Hiccuping at the air, she closes her eyes against the hot pulsing rush and concentrates on the pressure of his hands smoothing over the small of her back. His knotting had always been an peculiar novelty for her which Spock tried to make amends for. She told him not to be silly, his body was nothing to make penance for. She loved him, loves all of him and with it, she accepted Spock wholly.

" Nyota…" he croons above her. His fingers make a very deliberate circles across her skin and she sighs into the touch. No amount of lust ever keeps him from moments of tenderness where there is time to be had.

As his release tapers to a dewy trickle, Spock brings her limp body up against his chest and lays them down against the bed. The linens resemble more of a nest than they do bedding with how they've been thrown about. That one annoying corner of the bed sheet has come undone once more and now lies curls beneath her pillow.

Her fingers stretch out to pluck at it before falling still again. Sleep teases at the edge of her mind just as Spock's nose goes about nuzzling into the thick tangle of her hair. He's whispering something that sounds like High Vulcan but it's so quiet and deep that she can barely pick up his voice at all.

The hands he had at her back earlier now slip down over her front, palming her stomach in a not-so-subtle gesture of longing.

She smiles and snuggles back against him, relaxing as he holds her tighter. " Spock, earlier...I felt you...felt your relief. What's the matter?"

He stiffens against her and she knows he's trying to find some way to have some privacy before he answers her. Sex between them has always been...revealing, whether they wish it to be or not. There's no hiding anything when you find yourself so wrapped up in the other. Thoughts are shared, emotions expressed and fears are made known. Just like now.

" Spock?"

Pulling her closer, Spock rests his chin against the top of her with a heavy exhale. " There are times that I- feel uncertain about my ability to be enjoyable to you. I am not always...it is important to me that you enjoy our...relations."

A sad, consoling sound leaves her mouth as she twists in his arms and brings his face down to kiss him. Still stuck as they were, the moves is difficult but not impossible. At the touch of her lips, Spock turns and captures hers with his own and bars her against his chest with his arms.

The emotion that follows the kiss has Nyota tearing up with a sniff. " Oh Spock, I do love you. Never worry about that." she pleads, cupping his cheek. " I'm just sore that's all. You always go out of your way to make sure I'm satisfied."

He huffs against her face and shakes his head against her hand with a earnest look. " It is not going out of my way if it is the direction I always intended to take."

Nyota chuckles at his rebuttal and kisses him quickly again. " I know better than to debate with a Vulcan. I'd never get the last word."

Spock turns his face and nips playfully at her hand while watching her from underneath his brow. " You say you know but you have engaged in the activity at least eighty-"

" Spock, don't try and deflect me away from our conversation with flirting."

He lifts a brow and shifts his gaze. " You mean my charming antics have failed in distracting you?"

Nyota rolls her eyes and shakes her head. " I know, it's unbelievable, right?" she teases.

Spock's gaze wavers over her face, searching fitfully for reassurance. " Do you regret your decision to try and conceive a child?"

 _With me…_

Nyota sighs as his mind fills the words left out of his sentence and fondly strokes at his cheek. " I don't regret one moment of it. I'm going to have our baby...and my husband is trying to make sure I enjoy every single minute making them."

A smile ghosts across his face and draws her closer for a kiss. She hums happily against his lips and smiles. Soreness aside, everything about this feels right. They feel right.


	6. Chapter 6

" Nyota? Are you well? It is seven minutes until we are due to depart for the bridge."

She swipes at her nose and clears the burning at her throat with a quiet grunt. She doesn't want him to know. Maybe he wouldn't be able to tell she's been crying here for the last ten minutes. Or why she's been crying. " Yeah, I'll be right out. Just a minute."

He doesn't say anything but she hears his steps tapping away from the door towards their living area. Nyota exhales bites at her lip. The bright red blotch lining her underwear glares back at her like an angry mark of failure.

She shouldn't be so upset she thinks toeing out of the sordid garment. She knew going into this pregnancy wasn't such an easy affair. The mechanics of getting pregnant are simple enough but she really thought for a moment...had let her hopes get away from her and let herself think that maybe, just maybe she was pregnant.

She sniffs again hunches over the toilet as her insides gnaw at themselves. She was so ready for it to happen that she forgot that it wasn't such a sure thing. They followed the research guidelines, had been so careful…

Now as she sits her alone, the horrid doubt creeps across her mind that she tried to never entertain. That terrible what if, the fear that she couldn't get pregnant. Crowding alongside it for attention is the dread she might conceive but not be able to carry to term. What if...what if she can't have their children?

A sob rips from her throat and has her hiccuping to try and tamp it back down. Outside she can hear Spock's footstep drawing back towards the bathroom. She hurries and wipes herself and jumps into the shower before he can try and question her again. She can't face him right now. Talking to Spock about it would make everything too real and it's too much think about right now.

She slips into the misty spray of the sonic shower and closes her eyes against it. The heat starts to soak in and warm her skin. It's the first time she's felt warm this morning since waking. That telltale ache and wetness between her legs startled her but she hadn't thought she would be so disappointed. Spock had tried to reach for her but she rushed off to the bathroom with mumbled excuses to delay her return.

She hadn't realized that she had been sitting here so long thinking over it but then again she hadn't really thought about anything else. Time, work, their morning routine was all cast aside as Nyota fought to keep her composure. She tried to logic her way out of her grieving. _You have nothing to be sad about, you didn't even conceive,_ she coached herself. _But what if she had and she…_

Nyota leans against the tile wall and hugs herself. It does her no good to try and not think about it and no good to ponder it as both leave her feeling numb and lost. Agitated, Nyota quickly washes up and slaps the shower panel off with her palm.

 _It's not fair,_ her heart rages, as she towels herself off none-too-gently. Out of all the things she wants and has the power to gain, having and carrying their baby is what she wants more than anything. Why can't she have it? Why did her body betray her? Were her fears true? Is she unable to take and carry a Vulcan baby?

When she leaves the bathroom, Nyota finds Spock waiting for her on the edge of the bed. At the woosh of the door, his dark eyes find her warm brown ones and soften their gaze. She purses her lips and juts her chin into the air. " Sorry for the delay. I'm not feeling well."

She moves to go to the dresser and he stands to meet her halfway. Blocked by the large frame of her husband, Nyota scowls down at the floor not trusting her face not to show the storm raging inside her. " C'mon Spock, we're already late."

He's silent as his arms go around her and hold her to him. It's then that she notices that only the duvet is on their mattress. Spock's stripped the bed, no doubt from her period's staining the sheets. He knows.

Her lip trembles and hot tears stream at her cheeks as she folds into him with a muffled wail " Spock…"

He rubs gently at her neck and kisses her forehead as she cries against him. Her mind opens at his touch and she finds her mouth blurting out all the things she wished to keep in. " I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know...I thought...I thought we were and I didn't know! I just didn't think…"

" Nyota.". The firmness of his voice has he pausing and looking up at him. The worry etched over her face pains him just as much as her emotion. His hand finds hers and locks them together with his fingers. " Do not apologize. You are not at all fault. I will not allow you to carry a burden that is not yours to have."

" Okay but I-"

" You are feeling grieved and that's okay. I...appreciate the feeling all on my own as well but you did nothing wrong nor is there something wrong with you. You are wonderful, K'diwa."

She tears up again as he touches on her core fears and Spock pulls her closer with a soft tug. They stay like that for a while, embracing one another and reconciling what isn't with what is. A flick thought flashes between them and has Spock gripping her tighter. Nyota gasps against him as his chest begins to rumble with no hint of happiness.

" I would never want another. There is no other that I want. I want no one but you. Only you."

He takes her chin and tilts her head to meet his gaze once more. " You, Nyota. I don't want a Vulcaness, I want you. You are the strong female I want to have make and carry our child. Whether it happens or not is not something I want you to fret about."

She sniff and blinks up at him with a teary smile. " We're late reporting for duty."

" At the moment I could care less about that duty as I'm currently fulfilling another. One of which I would not leave wanting."

Nyota's smile broadens and the residual feeling of disappointment wans under the weight of his regard. " Thanks, Sweetheart."

His mouth fidgets with whether or not to smile and settles on a pitiful-looking lopsided grin. " Still trying out pet names?"

" Yes, am I any closer?"

Spock shrugs and rubs at her bare shoulders. " I have no feeling on the name. I am also indifferent over 'honey'."

Nyota bits at her lip with a impish grin and hooks a finger into his collar. " What about 'daddy'?"

Spock startles with a look of dismay and studies her face. " Surely you jest?"


	7. Chapter 7

His thrusts are desperate now, jarring her whole body along the mattress.

Spock stares down at her from where he holds her face and chants silently into her head. _Please, please, please…_

 _For her, for me, for us, please_

His pleas were for no one and anyone powerful and compassionate enough to listen.

He had no religion so to speak and his Vulcan spirituality was alien to that of Nyota's belief in Christ. And yet he prays on with each push inside her until Nyota seizes up in yet another orgasm. As she regains her control, Nyota pushes at his shoulders. " Spock...Spock I'm tired."

His eyes dart to hers and he gives a pensive look. What he's aiming for? His stare looks so emotional that she feels herself swoon as it hits her through the bond. Spock finds his release soon after and collapses onto his hands.

He hangs his head and pants at the air. Nyota reaches up and tentatively combs her fingers through his bang. " Spock? Sweetie, what's the matter?"

He remains silently but moves to gather her up in his arms while still joined at the lap. He hides his head in the crook of her neck and sighs against her shoulder. " Conception. I have not been able to do so for all this time. The failure weighs heavily on my mind."

" What?"

He avoids her inquiring stare, looking over at the flat plane of her belly in guilt. " The samples I submitted to both McCoy and M'Benga were concluded as viable but I remain uncertain. I am a mix of two compatible but divergent DNAs. I am a hybrid, I might not be able to - I may be more sterile than originally thought."

Nyota shook her head and cupped his face with her hands. 'Sweetheart, there's no logic to this. It's just going to hurt you.'

" I want to give you what you want. I should be able to give you what you want." Nyota gathers him to herself and cradles him with a shush.

The unspoken feeling of failure passes between them and Nyota holds him closer. " Spock, it's what we want, not just me. Bargaining with the cold, unthinking universe is only going to leave you feeling the same. It brought us together. if that's all we get in this life, that's good enough for me.."

He's quiet for a moment, resting against her chest. His mind absently takes note of the comfort her embrace lends him. She thinks he's falling asleep when he finally speaks. " I want our baby, Nyota. Illogical as it may be I wish to impregnate you myself. Not a doctor with a device. I want…"

He fumbles with the strength of his emotions. He had practice in expressing himself due to their marriage but he was Vulcan. And this issue had a wealth of emotion springing with it.

Nyota gasps as she feels them all in a sudden rush. As they die down, she's left with the echoing ache of space in her chest. A place for their unborn child in their hearts.

Hopes, fears, wishes and dreams, all of it in the form of longing inside them. A pain to be seen to fruition. Biologically they were both fit for conception and even with their differences, they should be able to obtain the natural pregnancy that they want. Yet, for all their coupling Nyota's womb remained unoccupied.

A emotion akin to grief simmered reeks off of him and has Nyota's eyes tearing up. She clutches him closer and sniffs into his shoulder. " Please don't. Don't do this. Baby I love you…"

Spock rolls his head towards her face and butts his head against her forehead. Sadness, so much sadness where there should be love and joy. How did this happen?

She kisses the side of his nose and sniffs at the depressing again seeping over to her. " Let's take a break."

Spock stiffens in her arms but she moves to soothe him back into relaxing against her. " I didn't say give up, just put a pin in it. We need to reset our heads. We need to get over all the science and logic of it all, get back to why we want the baby in the first place."

He pulls away and at first she thinks it's from upset. She's just about to apologize when he slides his hands underneath her jaw. The room disappears around them. They're all that's left. Her and Spock.

In this strange meld, that he's only performed once before when they formalized their bond, her senses takes on new, alien qualities. Spock is still beside her, in her but he is with her too. Their bond. He leads her towards it, pressing against her once Nyota settles inside.

She's disembodied here, exposed to the most intimate and deep of exchanges. Minds unbridled, Spock draws Nyota to himself and together their wallow in the embrace of everything them.

It's this connection that gave Nyota her desire for motherhood. Not the curious itch of what could be but the multiplication of love. She loves him, so much it hurts but here in their most vulnerable of unions it feels euphoric. She loves him and that deep and dark brooding love he has for her is translated into a emotion she can fully understand. Cherished. Treasured. Celebrated. Attended.

She doesn't know how long they stay this way submerged as deeply as they are. Time seems pointless. Eventually Nyota feels Spock uncurl himself from around them and brings the room and their bodies back into focus.

Nyota opens her eyes to Spock's peering back at hers. She smiles and he mimics hers as best he can and breaks the silence. " We shall take a break."

" Reset." she adds.

" Reset." he agrees, nuzzling her cheek. " _Taluhk nash-veh k'dular_."

Nyota smiles and bumps his forehead as she closes her eyes. " I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Not for the first time is Spock grateful to have such a intelligent and witty bondmate.

This hiatus of breeding, or the reset as Nyota referred to it, has been as refreshing as it has been delightful. It has seen them through a revival of their courtship. Long forsaken rituals such as game and movie night, their xeno-botanical stroll, have been resumed from their temporary hold.

Cooking together over wine and chocolate has been a favorite of his, something so supercilious in the way their hold their beverages and deny their inenbritation that it brings him...contentment as much as it tickles her.

He hadn't know the amount of pressure they had placed upon themselves with trying to conceive but once free of it, Spock had to wonder when it had all taken such a mentally detormential turn.

He turns his head from the holovid and tilts it down to look at where he has tucked Nyota against him. She thought it best to watch a comedy given their moods as of late and he wasn't disinclined to agree with her. He never laughed at them but he enjoyed the sensation of her humor bubbling off of her skin.

As if sensing his appreciation, Nyota giggled at a rather exaggerated joke and peppered him with the arm with the very feeling he was ruminating over. He shifts, moving his left leg against the back of the couch to draw her back against his chest. Feeling his intentions from where his hand laid against her own Nyota moves readily into the mold Spock desires.

Another joke reaches its punch line and he rides the feeling of her giddy happiness again. His thumbs move over the top of her wrists, mirroring back how oddly it translates to him.

He gazes down again to find Nyota peering up at him hungrily. " Ra se if? ( What is it)"

She doesn't answer him and instead moves over and straddles his lap. He tilts his head with a eyebrow lifted in inquiry but he feels her intent. Despite this her lips still surprise him with how incredibly soft they are. He groans in approval and parts his mouth to taste her.

Their hands work to push at their clothing moving the loose pants around his waist down around his thighs and her shirts up to free her breasts. He palms each one as he continues to kiss him, rolling each nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Electric currents of his psionic energy shocks them into stiffness that rivals his hardening lok.

" Hold on." she pants standing up to shed her pajama bottoms. Spock eyes her with a predatory stare, happily lying back across the couch as she pushes him down. They resume they kissing with an added rub of their hips. His hands comb over what he can touch of her, drawing the wet slickness of her sex to coat his engorged lok.

Nyota breaks off from nibbling his bottom lip when particularly pointed thrust bumps the flared head of his cock over her clit. "Mmm, lemme ride you. It's been so long."

On that Spock agreed. It had been far too long since he has been at her mercy and he is eager to had. A pleased hiss escapes his clenched teeth as she takes the base of his cock into her hands. Instead of sinking down over it with her pussy, she shimmies down over his legs and takes the head of it into her warm mouth.

A sound uniquely Vulcan tears from his throat as she licks and suckles at him. " Mmmm. MMm, so good. I love tasting myself on your dick."

" Nyota!" His lovely wife is very much what one would consider a lady. Mannerly and cordial, she is the epitome of grace. But when they engage in sexual congress, his prim and proper female transforms into a female so coarse that he feels a smug sort of pride; he loves it. He isn't alone in his debauchery of his mate, he is equally matched if not rivaled.

In his musing she shifts again and impales herself over him with a bawdy groan. " Mmmm."

His eyes close as his head falls back with the arching of his back. A rumbling sigh of pleasure fills his mouth from the sweetness. She can feel other noises his body would like to make, snarly, snuffly noises from the teasing wind of her hips but he swallows them down.

Nyota spreads her fingers over his chest leans forward to steal a chaste kiss over his jaw. The position of how her channels shifts, tighter, deeper still. He growls then, jutting up his hips to sink in to the hilt.

" Ah!" Nyota bounces in his lap, her ass clapping against his thighs as she crashes down over his lok. His fingers tighten their grip on her legs as the sensation of complete, utter satisfaction sends Spock's eyes rolling to the back of his head. " Ha...ha…!"

He groans into the air as they replicate the motion. Nyota makes the whimpering little mews that drive his mad with lust. When her blunt little nails bite through his undershirt into his skin, his mouth falls open with an unhuman snarl of her name. " Nyota…"

She shivers at the sound. There's no danger in it but he know how much she reveled in him doing so. The feel of such a powerful male between her legs, bent to her will, was a particular type of kink of hers that Spock was gratified to indulge.

" Weh." he commands roughly and she gives him more. She more frantic now in her movements. The credits to their movie have long since stopped and the tv has reverted back to adverts for things they don't need.

It's hard for him to hear it over the slapping of their flesh. She's pleading with him now to get 'it' to her, whatever it is but Spock can speculate what his beloved needs. He needs it too. The sweet release of tension while being completely laid bare before the one you cherish the most.

" You make me so hot, it hurts…" she whines up at the air.

Spock answers her with a snarling lick to her throat and kiss to her jaw. She squeals and wraps her arms around him with her mouth to his ear. " You make me so slutty for you, Spock...so needy...fuck me-" she gasps.

His hands slip up her legs and palm the soft curve of her fat bottom in elated gluttony. Her words have his hips shifting in a pattern of quick thrusts in and slow strokes out. He tilts his chin and angles his mouth towards her ear. There he whispers, filthy words, phrases in Vulgar Vulcan that she can scarcely believe he's not just making them up. His raising her hips back up again by her ass and sinking back in when she finally breaks.

Spock closes his eyes and relishes all the feedback he receives from his other senses. The delicious spasming of her cunt, wet, velvety, muscle seizing over the thick girth of his cock. The soft crush of her climax in his mind. It's renders him senseless.

He moves now with no exact cadence or rhythm driving himself into the dripping heat of her sheath in an effort to spend himself inside his woman. Nyota sways above him, her breasts still free and moving in time with his relentless thrusting. He leans up just enough to catch a dark nipple with his tongue and guides it into his hungry maw.

His vaguely aware that she's whining his name in encouragement, though the curse words alone would have made him think that he was doing something wrong. He hums around the tight bud, enraptured by his mate's lush body.

The couch cushion beneath them is soaking wet and will need to be sent to the refresher to have any hope of not reeking of Nyota's wetness. At the moment however Spock is much inclined to have it stay that way.

The thought makes her curl against, offering up her other breast for his mouth's pleasure. As she should, a dark voice hums inside him. These were his breasts, his fat bottom, his tight cunt just as much as the lok surging in and out of her is Nyota's.

" Yes! Yes my thick cock, oh God…"

She's closes once more and he prepares his own climax when she grabs his hair and shakes her head. " Not there...my ass, I want it in my ass this time. Make me come around you there using your fingers...please."

He's already shifting them around before she stops speaking, putting her onto her knees on forearms before him as he uses one hand to wet his fingers and prod the tight knot of her ass. She pushes back against him obediently and moans. " Spock…"

He goes from two to three and finally four fingers while running his cock between the lips of her weeping sex. Drenched to his liking, Spock angles it higher and slowly buries himself inside.

Nyota claws at the cushion beneath her and leans into him. " Holy fuck…! Yes…"

Something akin to a smile slides over his lips as he withdraws and sinks back, edging deeper and deeper with each stroke. He leans over her, one hand seeking her face to share the sensation. Nyota turns to it readily and chokes a sob at the duality. She feels how he notes the difference of temperature and tightness, the little glands he bumps along the back that make her huff as if he stroking her clit. He feels her thrill of being so dominated, the wicked pleasure of debasement. There's something more though, something that makes his already threadbare control break. The thought of fornicating just to do so and no other reason than they love each other has him groaning behind her and grabbing her hips.

Nyota licks her lips and huffs into the tangled mess of her hair as he pumps her rear full of his burning semen. They shudder in tandem as the waning orgasm is shared between them. " Shit…"

Belatedly he remembers that she requested his fingers but she pushes his hands away and smiles. " It's okay. Just hold me."

He does so gently, moving them onto their sides so his back is to the holoscreen and she's facing the back of the couch cushions. He moves his lok until the swelling knot is just clear of her but keeps the rest of his length buried inside.

" You can do it. All of it."

Her voice is soft to his ears as the Holoscreen drones on about a pleasure cruise line operating out of Risa. He doesn't ask for clarification. The residual effects of their melding has Spock's skin sensitive to her mind and, from her declaration, Nyota in tune with his.

Gripping the flare of her hips, Spock moves his head down to her neck. There he nibbles and licks at the skin, so pleased with her and the position he has her in. He had forgotten this playful, light-hearted dance of theirs. It was sometimes iane, in other times raw but it was always them.

He places a light bite to her ear, nothing to hurt her, just enough to satisfy that urge he feels to claim her before the world.

A soundless chuckle leaves her in little airy huff through her nose. " You over here trying to claim me more? What else could you do? Sing it from the rooftops."

Spock runs his tongue behind her ear and savors the way she shivers and clenches around him. " I could impregnate you."

Nyota laughs in earnest at that and wiggles her bottom. " I've got some news for you, buddy. While you had the right methods but the hole is wrong."

He hums at her and pushes his knot up between her cheeks. " Hmm, quite true but I am not upset from the missed opportunity."

Her hands move over his as pushes back, peppering his lust. " Maybe next time?"

" Once we are finished resetting." he whispers in her ear. A grope of her ass let's her know what he means and a tittering giggle let's him know that she's on board with the idea.


	9. Chapter 9

" They're all so small."

She picks up another layette set and marvels at the oneies. These are plain white. Not what she would have chosen but Spock worries, probably needlessly over the colors hurting their child's eyes.

He stands behind her now looking guilty over his earlier upset and motions towards another set of clothing, with tiny tribbles dotted over the tops.

" The clothing does not need to be devoid of color. Lighter hues are bound to be more soothing to the additional spectrum he'll inherit."

A sly smile broods over her face as she looks over the various pastel colored animal prints. " _He'll_ inherit? So the boy is going to be a he now, are they?"

Spock flusters with a faint blush and busies himself with examining the other sets in stock on the sales PADD. " I inferred no such thing. And there is no baby yet to gender."

Nyota hums over the last statement. "Not yet but oh!-"

Her hands reach out and snatch up a small stuffed selhat with a delight coo. " Aww, oh my goodness. _Spock_...we _have_ to get it!" she says, wagging it in his face.

Spock blinks at the plushie and takes it from her hand with a critical eye. " Saying we must purchase this item in particular seems most illogical. Have you even examined this toy to see if there are away pieces that the baby could pull free and choke upon?"

Nyota huffs and shakes her head. " No because I'm not giving birth to the hulk, Spock. They'll be an infant and not looking to pick a fight with their luvvie."

Spock still has his attention fasten over the velveteen Vulcan bear-cat when he replies to her. " We must be vigilant in what we bring in consider bringing into our home."

" Spock…!"

It comes out as more of a whine than a warning but she succeeds in getting him to calm his protective instincts. He lifts a floppy pawed arm and lets it fall back in place. " Very well. It is a suitable toy for comforting. No buttons or glass eyes."

Nyota takes it from him with an ear-to-ear grin and plops it into their empty basket. " Good. One down. Only 134 things left on the list to get."

" You are teasing." he pouts.

" Well it could go much faster if you weren't so picky about everything."

" I would not call being cautious picky, Nyota."

She sighs through her nose and turns back to the layettes. She knew better than to get his back up about his fears. She has her own too and he tries his best to be sensitive towards them. " Let's just see what else we can find."

Nyota's combing through a rack when Spock comes back with the basket in hand. She gives him a small smile at his approach. " What is it baby?"

He drops his gaze to the basket as he pulls out a small stuffed lion. It's a myriad of colors, in bright bold patterns. Stripes, spots, wave lines and ombre, it's a eyeful to take it.

She inhales silently and accepts it as he put it into her hand. " It is not on the list and we already have another toy to fulfill the same role but I thought that perhaps we could get a…'luvvie' from Terra's fauna to-"

Her tearful sniffle cuts him off as she cradles the toy to her chest. " I'm not trying to be a bad mom. I just wanted something that I thought, I just want- I'm"

Spock steps closers and discreetly links their fingers with his chest and the sales rack for privacy. Warm waves of pride and security floods from her hand up her arm and down across her chest. The look he gives her in conjunction makes her ready to make that baby they were talking about.

" I want the baby to have human and Vulcan items. It is important for our child to know, respect and take pride in both sides of their heritage."

" I don't want to hurt the baby's eyes!" she confesses in a near wail.

Spock's eyes widen in dismay as he glances at those shopping nearby. He puts any embarrassment aside however to take her hand into his and twist their fingers. His calm pacifies her panic almost immediately and has her leaning forward to brace her head across his chest. His chest rumbles against the side of her face as he speaks low enough so only she can hear. " You will not do any such thing. Together we will raise a exemplary child."

She tightens the grips between their hands and looks up towards his handsome face. " I think the reset is finished…"

His eyes darken as he takes in her shifting mood from where they touch. " Could we possibly continue shopping back in our quarters from the comm?"

She pulls at his hand leading him towards the register with hedonistic haste. " Already ahead of you."


	10. Chapter 10

She yawns and sighs once again. It's the fifteenth time this morning and that has him worried.

There's a virulent strain of the Kamaraazite flu making its rounds around the ship. It mirrors its Terran counterparts with the exception of its particularly violent sneezes. A few members of the bridge crew across the shifts who have reported to McCoy with these symptoms and with bloodied tissues up their noses, have tested positive for the pestilence.

So now he watches her while trying to look like he's not doing so because she says she feels his eyes and he's being irrational and annoying. Spock thinks she's being cranky but cannot tell her so. Doing so would only make her condition ( and mood) worse. He does not need logic to know where such action will lead.

Instead he comes back to her station, just in time to see the sixteenth yawn, with a large mug of chai tea in hand. He finds it strange that she's already sniffing at the air before he's even five feet from her. She turns in her chair and squeals in delight. "Oh my God, thank you sooo much! Mmm."

She inhales at the steam and sighs in relief. After the first sip she appears much more cheerful. He remains satisfied with this development until he feels a sharp twinge of sadness emitting from the corner of his mind. But he wasn't sad.

He peers towards her station to further research the possible source of this feeling. He's answered by the sight of his bondmate crying into her mug. She's so silent that he hadn't realised she had been doing so.

Spock makes his way over, using his body to block the rest of the bridge crew from view. "Nyota are you well?"

"I miss my mom," she sniffs tearfully.

His face pales, anxious as to her reason for the sudden distress over her mother. A quick glance over his shoulder lets him know that no one has seen her crying and for the sake of her (and his) privacy he wishes to keep it that way as much as possible.

He reaches beneath her station's console and retrieves a tissue. He extends it towards her face and she wordlessly allows him to dab her face with the soft towelette.

"Come with me."

She nods at him with a weepy expression and the pair of them start towards the turbolift. Spock shifts her further over to his side and signals the Captain with a pointed stare in his direction. "Captain, I wish to escort the Lieutenant Commander to the medical bay."

Kirk makes a face of concern that rivals his own as he readily agrees. "By all means. Report back on her condition as soon as you know anything."

Spock says of course as he hurries her onto the turbolift. He notes Nyota's surprise from where he touches her wrist as he requests deck two. She turns to study his face knowing full well she won't find anything there to tell her why they're going to the cabin. " Spock?"

" Just a moment." he says gently. As the lift comes to a stop, Spock leads Nyota forward with a soft touch at her elbow. She goes willing and doesn't stop until they reach their quarters and step inside.

" Why are we here?"

" I would request that you do something for me."

" Really? What? Not drink that nasty tea that suppose to prevent that flu?" she said, pulling a face of disgust.

The whites of her eyes are pink from tearing. She's always had thoughtful eyes in Spock's opinion. Big and bright he always settled his gaze their to admire them. They look back at him now as her mind tried to conclude his reasoning for coming here. If he were to concentrate his focus hard enough he would probably be able to hear her thoughts. As it was, he could deduce some of what she was thinking through her expression.

Vulcans do not lie….in practice and Spock had always labored to work under this tenant. He had told Kirk they were going to the medbay and she can still feel his intent to do so. So why the additional stop?

He left her standing there and in the foyer and went to their bedroom. A quick turn to the right had him in the bathroom and a short stoop down had him at eye level with the room's cabinetry. When he returned, Nyota had moved to face the bathroom, looking more puzzled as to what he could want. When he raised his hand with a small, white box Nyota froze in place.

She took it into both her hands as he extended it towards her. She stared down, wide-eyed and slack down as she turned it over. " A pregnancy test?"

She was smiling without her meaning to. Surprised joy bubbled over from her through their bond as Spock beheld her beaming face. " Yes. Would you?"

Nyota glanced down at the box and back towards his face with a skeptical look. " Do you really think there's a chance that I'm pregnant."

He nodded and stepped closer. " I would not ask if I did not believe otherwise. The test would also rule out the possibility that you are ill with something more nefarious."

The nervous look on her face fell away as she broke out into a loud, whimsical laugh. " Spock! A baby isn't a disease!"

" Please take the test." he urged, gesturing towards the bathroom. He did not comment that he, of course, knew that their child was not a virulent strain of something terrible. It was obvious. He did, however, need an examination for her current condition.

Nyota moved towards the bathroom and shook her head still laughing. Spock took a seat on the edge of their bed and prepared himself to sit vigil.

He tried to give her privacy but that was easier said than done. He could not help that he had hearing well enough to hear the rip of the thin cardboard or her urinating into the bowl of the toilet from the otherside of the door.

Spock reached out within their shared link and frowned. She felt distant, as if their bond had been stuffed with cotton and he could not hear or feel around it. He thought to probe further but thought better of it. If Nyota was obscured as she was, then she was seeking complete privacy.

He sought to calm his mind but found that useless. Endless probabilities strung themselves out before him in an anxiety-birthing jumble. He felt his mouth dry as his thoughts continued to pummel his emotions.

With their differing biologies would the test prove effective? What if she was greeted with a false positive? A false negative? Perhaps-

The door slid open and had he snapping his head up to observe it. Nyota stood silent in the doorway. Her face was just as smooth and muted as it was on the morning she learned of her menstration.

He bolted to his feet though he made no move towards her. He was waiting, needing to know how to approach her. Always in love but in joy or sadness? He couldn't tell. Her face was one that any Vulcan would have admired for its soft serenity. Spock wouldn't have been among their count at present. Her black expression terrified and irritated him. What? He need to know.

Her mouth took pity on him and trembled open. It twitched between a flat line and a shy smile as she drew the test up to chest level. " I can't be for certain until we get to the med bay but I think...I think I'm pregnant."

The last words come out between smiling lips and his hands as he rushed over to cup her face. He rested his forehead against her and drowns them in his elation. What good would words do in this moment anyways. They would remember what each of them said certainly but it will be the emotion of the news that they would treasure this day.

His bondmate cried and laughed between his hands and it was the most beautiful experience he can think of witnessing. She was overjoyed, as human would say. A fraught emotional state where they body expressed a number of emotional cues at once.

" A baby!" she sobbed, happily. " We have a baby!"

She yanked one of his hand from her face, jarring him, and settled it on her flat abdomen. Spock caressed its skin in turn, amazed that Nyota would be so happy over the biological occurrence. There was no other word for it. His wife is dizzy with it and her love for him. " Spock!" she grinned. "A baby!"

She repeated as if he hadn't heard it but he appreciated it. Relief was still rolling over him and making its exit out of his system. There was a part of him that still desired further confirmation and assessment but another, larger more deeply bedded lump of him that thrilled at the words.

A baby. Their baby. Their family.


End file.
